Calgary Real Estate Blog

Kelowna, BC (April 14, 2010) – RE/MAX of Western Canada is proud to support National Organ Donor Awareness Week, April 18-25, 2010, designated by the Canadian Society of Transplantation. RE/MAX has partnered with Aquarius Marketing to power www.LiveOn.ca, a newly developed website that has been designed as a touch point to facilitate easy access to the applicable registration information for each provincial transplant agency. With the continued support of RE/MAX of Western Canada and other organizations helping spread the word on the need for organ donors, the BC Transplant Organization performed an amazing 211 organ transplants in 2009.

Registering your decision to become an organ donor can save up to eight lives and improve the quality of life for up to 80 others. The critical shortage of donors is only increasing, as fewer people are dying in ways that make organ donation an option. This is due to positive factors - improved safety measures such as airbags and helmet laws, as well as continued advancements in medical care. Nonetheless, the average person is far more likely to need an organ transplant than to be eligible to donate an organ. The good news is that everyone is a potential organ & tissue donor, regardless of their age. To date the oldest Canadian organ donor was over 90 years of age while the oldest tissue donor was 102 years old.

Canada ranks 11th place when compared to other countries with 14.8% actual organ donation per million people. Spain has the highest rate (34.3%), followed by Belgium (28.2%) and the USA (26.6%). “It is our hope raising awareness about the shortage of organ donors will encourage the public to discuss their wishes with their families and make the decision to register as an organ donor”, said Elton Ash, Regional Executive Vice President, RE/MAX of Western Canada. “Canada has the opportunity to set a record-breaking year for organ transplants in 2010 and for many years to come. By educating ourselves on organ donation in our province of residence, we can all make this possible.”

RE/MAX is Canada's leading real estate organization with over 17,500 sales associates situated throughout its more than 680 independently-owned and operated offices across the country. The RE/MAX franchise network, now in its 37th year, is a global real estate system operating in more than 70 countries. Over 6,500 independently-owned offices engage over 115,000 member sales associates who lead the industry in professional designations, experience and production while providing real estate services in residential, commercial, referral, and asset management.

For more information, visit: www.remax.ca.